Becoming a successful writer: The journey continues

I have been a writer since I was a little kid. When I was 6 years old I wrote my first song about flowers and sang it to my big brother Adrian. He didn’t even notice the words because he was so blown away at my singing voice, but I will never forget the look on his face. And that is the first memory I have about writing.

Over this last month or so I have learned so much about writing itself. How it makes me feel to sit and write what’s in my head.

The labyrinth of my mind unfolded by a series of words, thoughts and feelings that are now constructed into something worth reading. I’ve built my writing platform.

I have learned how others write and how different styles and personalities light up the internet. I have connected with other like-minded people who also have a lot to say and it is immensely intriguing. I absolutely love reading other people’s blogs, learning about them and how they view the world. This makes me feel whole.

I am not alone and neither are you.

And so I share my journey with you 🙂

There are a few fundamental points I have picked up on in this journey to become a successful writer and here is a recap of them:

Niche Market and following you have to find your niche, but you can’t make your niche market work for you unless you have some kind of a following. Most blogs don’t make any money and a lot of blogs don’t even last a year on the internet. So what you choose to write about is the backbone of your style and success. Content, consistency and care are the 3 C’s for writing a successful blog and it takes a very long time to develop your voice. I am definitely still working on this and that brings me to the next key element: Patience.

Patience is a virtue in all aspects of life. Especially when it comes to writing. I have read that most writers/bloggers spend the first couple of years just building a following. So if you understand that success doesn’t happen overnight then you’re golden! This is going to take time and I have accepted that. Sharing is caring and that’s how you slowly build your audience over time. So keep writing what you love and the right people will eventually follow. Then you can pick their brain about their own writing habits.

A Community of writers This is probably the most vital thing I’ve learned over the last year. I started my blog last fall and I am only just beginning to build an online community. Other writers are going to teach you a plethora of lessons in writing. If someone has a successful blog with a lot of followers… follow them! Learn what works for them and surround yourself with like-minded people so you can share information. Liking and commenting on articles that you relate to will then connect you with those particular bloggers… and then they will not only help you connect with others you may not have been able to find, but you will learn different ways to make writing fun.

Sure grammar, punctuation, paragraphing, phrasing… these are all important too. But the content itself is what captures people’s attention. The stories.

Social networking is the present and the future outlet for writers. Get connected!

I don’t claim to be an expert in any of this as I am just in the learning process myself. But it seems these elements are what people are talking about when they talk about the writing process and how to make it work for you. Since this seems to work for other successful writers… I’m going to listen.

There are also a ton of different writing avenues to get involved in if you want to make money as writer such as blog advertising, copywriting, travel writing, freelance journalism etc. It’s seems as though a lot of writers do at least one or more of these types of writing jobs to make a decent living. I personally want to be a travel writer and/or freelancer so I’ve been researching different ways on how to do that. I am just getting my foot in the metaphorical door.

I am so incredibly excited to share what I learn and even more so to ask the instructor as many questions as I can. Greg Pratt is a local freelancer here in Victoria and has worked for Douglas, Revolver, Island Parent, Snowboard Canada, Brave Words and other publications.

So I am going to pick his brain!!

He is the perfect person to talk to as he is doing exactly what I want to do. Connecting with like-minded people IS CRUCIAL at this point in my journey. I can’t wait to share the information I soak up from this course with my fellow writers who are also beginning this wonderful journey to become a successful writer.

I would also like to thank my followers for your inspiration and hope you enjoy reading about my experiences. THANK YOU!!